Assessing students’ understanding of, and responses to, climate change in Ghana: A study at the University of Cape Coast.

Abstract

Climate change has become a contemporary environmental problem affecting human survival and development gains. It is expected that the human being whom the issue is affecting should understand and be ready to respond by engaging adaptive and mitigation measures. Tertiary students are expected to be instruments of change in this knowledge driven society. This study thus set out to assess the understanding of and responses to climate change by students at the University of Cape Coast in the Central Region of Ghana. A sample of 283 respondents was selected. Data were collected from this sample, analysed and presented with the aid of tables, percentages and chi-square tests of independence. The study found that the students generally do not understand basic concepts of climate change. It, however, established that most of the students have high perception that climate change is happening because of their experiences with certain environmental changes. They were found to have generally accepted and assimilated climate change and do not think the issue is a myth. However, the research realised that behavioural responses, which is very crucial to deal with the effects of climate change are lacking. They do not know the effective remedy to tackle climate change and that reflected also in their responses to actual action engagements. There is a gap between their perceptions, knowledge and action. In addition, the students are indifferent to the source of climate change information. Nonetheless, they expect scientists to do more of communication. The research recommends that stakeholders should intensify education by connecting scientific facts to people’s experiences, perceptions, beliefs and values.